Editing Rod Steiger (section)

===B-movies and criticism (1982–1994)===
After his [[open-heart surgery]] in 1979, clinical depression and health problems during the 1980s directly affected Steiger's career, and he often turned to [[B movie]]s, low-budget, independent productions, and TV miniseries. He admitted that during this period he accepted "everything I was offered", and knew that many of the films he appeared in were not great, but wanted to demonstrate his strong work ethic despite his issues.{{sfn|Hutchinson|1998|pp=141–42}} He later regretted the poorer films in which he appeared during the 1980s, and wished he had done more stage work.{{sfn|Hutchinson|1998|p=150}} He sank into an even deeper depression when he was not involved in acting, but it bothered him more that his acting career had taken a turn for the worse and was no longer challenging.{{sfn|Hutchinson|1998|p=142}} The major studio producers were wary of his problems and considered him a liability.<ref name="NYT bio"/> Steiger spoke about the experience to a younger colleague while advising: "Never tell anyone if you've got heart problems, kid. Never."{{sfn|Benson|2012|p=93}} His reputation as a fine character actor remained intact, and [[Joel Hirschhorn]] at the time considered his talent to be "as strong as ever".{{sfn|Hirschhorn|1983|p=352}}

In 1984, Steiger starred as a detective assigned to investigate the murder of a Chicago psychoanalyst ([[Roger Moore]]), a man whom he detests from a previous case, in [[Bryan Forbes]]'s ''[[The Naked Face (film)|The Naked Face]]''. [[Richard Christiansen (critic)|Richard Christiansen]] of the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' referred to it as a "wimpy suspense movie shot in Chicago in the fall of 1983, [that] doesn't do much good for the city or for anyone connected with it", and considered Steiger to be "acting in his high hysteria gear", who "snarls and whines and overacts".<ref name=Christiansen>{{cite web|author=Christiansen, Richard|url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1985-01-29/features/8501060447_1_roger-moore-movie-rod-steiger|title=''The Naked Face''|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=January 29, 1985|access-date=July 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928063204/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1985-01-29/features/8501060447_1_roger-moore-movie-rod-steiger|archive-date=September 28, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> Steiger took a break from cinema in the mid-1980s, during which he appeared in the [[ITV Yorkshire|Yorkshire Television]] mini-series ''[[The Glory Boys]]'' (1984) with [[Anthony Perkins]],{{sfn|Goble|1999|p=418}}<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/43161/glory-boys-the-contract-the/ | title=The Cold War Spy Collection: The Glory Boys & The Contract | publisher=DVD Talk | date=August 11, 2009 | access-date=September 24, 2015 | last=Hartel | first=Nick | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928063222/http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/43161/glory-boys-the-contract-the/ | archive-date=September 28, 2015 | url-status=live}}</ref> and ''[[Hollywood Wives (miniseries)|Hollywood Wives]]'' (1985) with [[Angie Dickinson]].{{sfn|De Vito|Tropea|2010|p=184}} Steiger and Perkins were at loggerheads during the production of ''The Glory Boys''. Perkins resented the fact that Steiger insisted on a bigger trailer and felt that Steiger was trying to steal scenes from him, while Steiger had thought Perkins "so jittery and jinxed by the chemicals he was taking" that he felt sorry for him and believed that he was jeopardizing the success of the film.{{sfn|Hutchinson|1998|p=151}} Steiger also performed on [[Joni Mitchell]]'s 1985 album [[Dog Eat Dog (Joni Mitchell album)|''Dog Eat Dog'']], where he provided the voice of an evangelist in the song "Tax Free".{{sfn|Rees|Crampton|1999|p=676}}
[[File:Rod Steiger.jpg|thumb|upright|right|Steiger in 1978 for the premiere of ''[[F.I.S.T. (film)|F. I. S. T.]]'']]
Steiger played a villain/antagonist role in the [[Argentina|Argentine]]-American film ''[[Catch the Heat (film)|Catch the Heat]]'' (1987), an action/martial arts picture about two undercover agents of the law who fight against an American-Brazilian drug baron who smuggles drugs into the United States inside showgirls' breast implants.{{sfn|Palmer|Palmer|Meyers|1995|p=53}} According to director [[Fred Olen Ray]], it was pulled from distribution within a week of release.{{sfn|Ray|1991|p=184}} In 1988, Steiger and [[Yvonne De Carlo]] played a spooky elderly couple with developmentally delayed children in [[John Hough (director)|John Hough]]'s horror film ''[[American Gothic (1988 film)|American Gothic]]''. Universally panned by the critics, [[Caryn James]] of ''The New York Times'' wrote: "Mr. Steiger addresses the camera as if he were reciting Shakespeare, he is truly, straightforwardly, hilariously bad."<ref name="James">{{cite news|author=James, Caryn|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=940DE5DC1331F937A35755C0A96E948260|title=''American Gothic'' (1987)|work=The New York Times|date=June 4, 1988|access-date=July 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928063350/http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=940DE5DC1331F937A35755C0A96E948260|archive-date=September 28, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> During the last year of the decade he played authority figures, including a mayor in ''[[The January Man]]'',<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=950DEEDF1331F930A25752C0A96F948260 | title=''January Man'' (1989) | work=The New York Times | first=Vincent | last=Canby | date=January 13, 1989 | access-date=September 1, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928063414/http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=950DEEDF1331F930A25752C0A96F948260 | archive-date=September 28, 2015 | url-status=live}}</ref> and as Judge Prescott in ''[[Tennessee Waltz (film)|Tennessee Waltz]]''.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/131408/Black-Water/details | title=''Black Water'' | work=The New York Times | access-date=September 24, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928063425/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/131408/Black-Water/details | archive-date=September 28, 2015 | url-status=live}}</ref> Although Steiger admitted that his performance in ''The January Man'' was "way over the top", he enjoyed the experience, thereby marking a positive turning point after a period of clinical depression.{{sfn|Hutchinson|1998|p=152}}

In 1990, Steiger starred in ''[[Men of Respect]]'', a crime drama film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play ''[[Macbeth]]''. He played a character based on [[King Duncan]], opposite [[John Turturro]] as Mike Battaglia ([[Macbeth (character)|Macbeth]]), who plays a Mafia hitman who climbs his way to the top by killing Steiger's character. The film was critically panned, with Roger Ebert awarding it one star out of four, describing the concept as a "very, very bad idea".<ref>{{cite web|date=January 18, 1991|url=http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/men-of-respect-1991|title=''Men of Respect''|author=Ebert, Roger|publisher=Rogerebert.com|access-date=July 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928063516/http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/men-of-respect-1991|archive-date=September 28, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> Steiger played another mobster, [[Sam Giancana]], two years later in the miniseries ''[[Sinatra (miniseries)|Sinatra]]'' (1992).<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/08/arts/television-sinatra-the-idol-the-institution-the-mini-series.html | title=Television; Sinatra: The Idol, The Institution, The Mini-Series | work=The New York Times | date=November 8, 1992 | access-date=September 1, 2015 | author=Strum, Charles | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928063703/http://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/08/arts/television-sinatra-the-idol-the-institution-the-mini-series.html | archive-date=September 28, 2015 | url-status=live}}</ref>

Steiger portrayed a reverend living in a small town in the [[Southern United States|American South]] in the macabre [[Merchant Ivory Productions|Merchant Ivory]] film production ''[[The Ballad of the Sad Café (film)|The Ballad of the Sad Café]]'' (1991), co-starring [[Vanessa Redgrave]] and [[Keith Carradine]]. The film met with generally lukewarm reviews, though it was entered into the [[41st Berlin International Film Festival]].<ref name="Berlinale">{{cite web |url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1991/02_programm_1991/02_Programm_1991.html |title=Berlinale: 1991 Programme |access-date=July 23, 2015 |publisher=Berlinale.de |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928063717/http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1991/02_programm_1991/02_Programm_1991.html |archive-date=September 28, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> Steiger auditioned for the part of an elderly Irishman in [[Ron Howard]]'s ''[[Far and Away]]'', starring [[Tom Cruise]] and [[Nicole Kidman]]. Steiger, who had long been bald, was ordered by Howard to wear a wig to the audition. He resented the fact that Howard insisted on taping the audition, which he believed to be a form of humiliation for actors, serving as after-dinner entertainment for the Hollywood executives. Steiger never forgave Howard, whom he referred to as a "cocksucker", for rejecting him for the part and giving it to [[Cyril Cusack]].{{sfn|Hutchinson|1998|pp=147–48}}

In 1993, Steiger portrayed an aging [[Gynaecology|gynaecologist]] who terrorizes his urban neighbors in a rural community in [[Burlington, Vermont]], in ''[[The Neighbor (1993 film)|The Neighbor]]''. Dennis Schwartz considered it to have been one of Steiger's creepiest roles, though he thought that the poor script had rendered the role awkward and "mildly entertaining in the sense that Steiger is asked to carry the film and hams it up".<ref name="Schwartz Neighbor">{{cite web|author=Schwartz, Dennis|url=http://homepages.sover.net/~ozus/neighbor.htm|title=''The Neighbor''|publisher=Ozus' World Movie Reviews|date=February 20, 2004|access-date=July 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928063826/http://homepages.sover.net/~ozus/neighbor.htm|archive-date=September 28, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> The following year, Steiger agreed to play the role of a Cuban mob boss opposite Sylvester Stallone and [[Sharon Stone]] in [[Luis Llosa]]'s thriller ''[[The Specialist]]'', citing its purpose as a "$40 million commercial" to show a new generation that he existed.{{sfn|Fantle|Johnson|2009|p=140}} Critics panned the film, which has a four percent approval rating on [[Rotten Tomatoes]] based on 27 reviews as of July 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1056079-specialist/|website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|access-date=July 23, 2015|title=''The Specialist'' (1994)|date=January 31, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928063845/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1056079-specialist/|archive-date=September 28, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> The role earned Steiger a [[Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor]] nomination, and the film was listed in ''[[The Official Razzie Movie Guide]]'' as one of "The 100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made".{{sfn|Wilson|2005}}